Doogee S98 Pro review: a flagship smartphone with a thermal imager

A couple of months ago I received a press release that Doogee is launching its flagship product.

called S98 Pro. Having answered the letter, I decided to ask him for a review, since, judging by the characteristics, the device is excellent.

So the representatives agreed to cooperate andsent gadget. True, he walked for about 50 days. And transportation stalled just as China closed the skies to Russian airlines' Boeing and Airbus.

However, Doogee S98 Pro got to me, and I'm happy to talk about it.

To begin with, let's recall which key devices were produced by Doogee:

2020: S96 Pro is the first IR night camera;
2020: S88 Plus - the first device with a 10,000 mAh battery;
2021: V10 is the first 5G with IR thermometer;
2022: S98 is the first device with two displays.

In fact, the S98 Pro model is based on the S98 version,only instead of an additional screen on the back side they “screwed” a thermal imager. In my opinion, this solution is the most rational: one more screen is more of a marketing trick that will rarely be used, and a camera with a thermal sensor will be useful for builders, electricians and those who need to monitor the temperature distribution of the surface under study.

The device received a MediaTek Helio G96, 8 chipsetGB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory, a 6000 mAh battery, an excellent quality 48 MP regular camera and a 20 MP night vision sensor. In addition, the device is protected according to the MIL-STD-810G standard and has an IP69K classification.

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Smartphone Doogee S98 Pro is already available for order in the official store on AliExpress. Now there it costs a little less than 20,000 rubles (after the action, the cost will be about 35,000 rubles).

P.S.Doogee positions this model as an alien smartphone (unusual design, shape of the camera block, bumper with alien paws). The kit includes funny sunglasses in the shape of elongated alien eyes.

Equipment
Design and materials
Elements
Display
Working hours
Communication options
Memory, processor and performance
Cameras: main, night vision and thermal imager
About sound
Impression
Competitors

Equipment

Smartphone
USB Type-C cable
33 W power supply
Special tool for removing the SIM card tray
Film on the screen
Bumper
Instruction
Warranty card

Design and materials

Although Doogee designerstried to create something alien, still got a classic rugged smartphone. However, unlike most inexpensive solutions, the S98 Pro is made with high quality in all respects. In addition, the device received the prestigious European Good Design Award for its appearance.

Side rubber inserts are durable, do not peel off,really absorb shock. Traces of mechanical influences are almost imperceptible on them. They are made neatly, without notches, without protruding elements.

The metal frame is also of good quality. The material is painted in such a way that the paint does not scratch at the first interaction with surrounding objects. Grinding is even.

USB cover opening and closingadequately, not bristling. The SIM card tray is heavy, metal, durable with a rubber gasket. It is removed using a special tool included in the kit. In principle, you can open it by prying it with your fingernail. The slot is installed tightly, does not play and does not stagger.

In general, the smartphone looks decent, built on a solid top five.

In terms of protection, here you will find IP69K andmilitary standard MIL-STD-810G. In theory, the Doogee S98 Pro is not afraid of shaking, water, dust, or even high temperatures. Naturally, any gadget can be broken by applying the appropriate force to it.

I tried directing a strong jet at the phonecold water to all elements on the body. While the device is in working condition. The main thing is to blow the microphone slightly afterwards, otherwise the sound will be muffled for some time.

Elements

Above - traditionally a speech speaker, sensorsillumination and proximity. Everything works well. The sound through the speaker is loud, midrange, clear and legible. There is also a small indicator of missed events.

Just below you can see the front camera.

At the bottom are the USB Type-C connector, microphone and speaker.

On the left is a multifunctional mechanical embossed button (in the settings you can assign it to launch applications and functions), a separate slot for two nano-SIMs and a microSD memory card.

On right:fingerprint scanner (flat, flush-mounted), power button and volume rocker. The buttons are comfortable, pressing is clear, the course is average, there is a soft “click” sound.

When you pick up your phone, the screen will vibrate.

On the reverse side, a huge thermal sensor is noticeable, to the right and left of it are cameras. The LED dual flash is on the right, and on the left is the IR light in night vision mode.

The dimensions of the Doogee S98 Pro are simply huge -172x82x15.2 mm. And that's not counting the bumper. In addition, the weight is 320 grams. On the other hand, in front of you is a device with a 6000 mAh battery, with two cameras, a thermal imager, in a case protected from all ailments.

Display

In this case, you are met by a 6.3-inch screen with an IPS matrix and a resolution of 1080x2340 pixels. The density in this case is 409 PPI, the aspect ratio is 19:9.

The use of IPS instead of AMOLED is due to the cost of the latter.

The refresh rate is just 60Hz. Most likely, the owners of the S98 Pro are unlikely to think about such a thing. The main thing for them is that the smartphone has protection and other tricky things like a thermal imager.

The maximum brightness of the matrix backlight is 400cd/m2 (officially 500). For an IPS matrix, the value is slightly above average. In the world it behaves quite normally. This is not the IIIF150 from a neighboring review with a brightness of 200 cd / m2.

The viewing angles of the screen are decent, the picture looks great, the colors are juicy, accurate, the white color is natural, without blue or yellowness.

There is auto-brightness, there is a dark theme. You can programmatically remove the selfie camera. There is no AOD mode for obvious reasons.

Total: quite a normal screen; I would like 90 Hz and slightly higher brightness, at least in the region of 600 cd / m2.

Working hours

The 6,000 mAh battery suggests that the battery life should be more or less normal. Although the 12 nm process technology of the MediaTek Helio G96 chip and the IPS matrix are a little confusing.

Official data:

430 hours standby
10 hours of games
28 hours of calls
10 hours of video playback

Real life video playbackon YouTube, the device “lives” for as long as 20 hours! And toys discharge the battery in 10 hours. In normal operation, the phone shows up to 8 hours of screen glow, which is very good for such a device.

You can squeeze out up to three days from the device, if you do not overload it with tasks.

A fast discharge should be expected only from the operation of the thermal imager. Approximately 1 hour of observation eats up about 20-30% of the battery charge.

Comes with a 33W power supply. Charges the S98 Pro in about 2.5 hours.

The battery has been certified to UN 38.3 and MSDS. Such goods can be transported by air and sea vessels.

The battery can also be charged wirelessly. 15W supported.

Total: you can hope for the Doogee S98 Pro smartphone - it works for a long time, and the discharge is uneventful.

Communication options

The phone is equipped with two nano SIM card slots. All in separate slots.

LTE FDD Band: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26/28A/28B/66
3G Band: B1/2/4/5/6/8/19
2G band: B2/3/5/8

From a communication standpoint, there are no issues. The declared SAR value is from 0.56 W/kg to 1.1 W/kg.

The device supports Bluetooth version 5.1, Wi-Fi ac. NFC chip available.

The smartphone works with GPS, Galileo, Beidou and GLONASS. The speed of determining positions is high, the accuracy is slightly above average.

Memory, processor and performance

This model is equipped with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of built-in UFS 2.2 memory. You can install a microSD card up to 512 GB.

RAM speed - 4500 MB / s. Too low for such a gadget. And the built-in one - 460/460 MB / s - is quite up to par!

The chipset used is MediaTek HelioG96. It was introduced exactly one year ago for mid-range devices without 5G. It has two clusters and eight cores: two Cortex-A76 and six Cortex-A55. The main disadvantage lies in the manufacturing process - 12 nm. Does not allow the battery to be pumped properly. Poco M4 Pro 4G, Redmi Note 11 Pro, realme Narzo 50, Tecno Camon 19 Pro and so on are equipped with this chip.

The Antutu test produces 251,000 points.This is a relatively modest result. However, with the smartphone, I did not notice any obvious glitches and bugs, as well as shell brakes. If they screwed 90 Hz here, it would be very good. With the basic tasks of S98 Pro copes perfectly.

As for the system, this is a “clean” Google Android 12 with almost no changes from the manufacturer.

You can assign different functions to the fingerprint sensor. For example, a quick answer to a call, taking a photo or video, creating a screenshot, and so on.

And in the software there is a sidebar of applications. It is enabled in the "Additional Features" settings.

The button on the left can be assigned:

One click
Two clicks
Long hold

Launch voice recorder, flashlight, screenshot, SOS or any program.

Cameras: main, night vision and thermal imager

Doogee S98 Pro has a main module for 48MP (SONY IMX582-AAJH5-C) with f/1.8 lens aperture and phase detection autofocus, 20 MP night vision sensor (SONY IMX350) with f/1.8 lens aperture and support for two IR LEDs. The front module is a 16MP Samsung S5K3P9SP camera with f/2.0 lens aperture.

The main camera shoots surprisingly well.It has a wide dynamic range, bright and rich colors. shallow depth of field for beautiful bokeh. Focus is fast and accurate. In night mode, it can increase ISO up to 20,000! Frames are almost noise-free, while maintaining white balance.

The night vision camera has a large margin for DD. In addition, it works in tandem with IR illumination, effective at a distance of up to 10 meters. An interesting thing for shooting in complete darkness without a flash.

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But I'm more interested in thermal imagingcamera. Previously, I have not come across a similar function in smartphones, and indeed in separate devices. It is necessary to monitor the temperature distribution of the investigated surface in real time. The temperature distribution is displayed on the smartphone display as a color picture, where different colors correspond to different temperatures.

By the way, such gadgets are quite expensive: good ones cost at least 50,000 rubles, primitive ones with connection to smartphones cost around 20,000 rubles.

Usually used to detect very hotsurface areas (for example, overheating in electrical circuits) or very cold (for example, heat leaks in rooms). Often noticed by builders who fix leaks when installing windows or insulating houses.

In the same way, you can find out the uniformity of heating or cooling devices: laptops, smartphones or PC motherboards.

Characteristics of the thermal imaging camera:

Resolution: 256x192
Pixel pitch: 12 micrometers
Spectral range: 8-14 micrometers
Frequency: 25Hz
Temperature range: -15 - +550 degrees Celsius
Accuracy: +- 2 degrees Celsius
Optics: 56 degrees, f/1.1

The most popular mobile camera isSeek for Android and iOS. The minimum cost of such a thing is about 20,000 rubles: 206x156 pixels, temperature range from + -40 to +330 degrees Celsius. For 40,000 rubles, they already offer a resolution of 320x240 pixels.

So a full-fledged smartphone with a thermal imaging camera for 20,000 - 30,000 rubles is an excellent purchase.

To work with the thermal imager on the Doogee S98 Pro, the InfiRay application is used. At the bottom there is a choice: create a photo, video and go to the gallery.

At the top left is a menu with a huge number of settings:

Radiometric range
Radiometric parameters
Selecting units of measurement
Choice of critical temperatures

Top right - turn on / off the backlight,activation of tools (accurate measurement by points, in a straight line or what is in a rectangular area), activation of the image from the main camera to overlay the image from the thermal sensor.

Despite the low resolution, the imagelooks good, it is quite clear where and what is. It is difficult to check the accuracy of the thermal imager, but it seemed to me that the device outputs plus or minus adequate data.

For me, this feature turned out to be interesting withpractical point of view at the moment when he was laying a new power cable in the country. I learned that one of the cables is overheating, and the machine is working at its limit. And I also found places of weak floor insulation. Again, purely out of interest, I checked the temperature of the new router from Huawei: it turned out that the case heats up to 35 degrees, and the junction of the Ethernet cable is up to 45 degrees!

It's funny to watch through the camera heated bodyareas of objects: sat a little on the bed - got a trace for 5 minutes; walked on the cold floor with bare feet - also left a mark for a couple of minutes. You can also track people with fever.

Of the additional advantages - saving photos and videos in the thermal sensor mode.

Total: the main camera is of excellent quality, night vision helps out, and thermal imaging is an indispensable thing for those who are professionally involved in the construction of houses, for example.

Video is recorded at a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. The quality is normal. The front camera is decent.

Examples of photos and videos:

Sample video (MP4, 183 MB) >>>
Sample video (MP4, 26 MB) >>>
Sample video (MP4, 160 MB) >>>

Examples of photos on a night vision camera:

Examples of photos and videos on a thermal imaging camera:

Original photos (zip, 270 MB) >>>
Sample video (MP4, 45 MB) >>>
Sample video (MP4, 37 MB) >>>
Sample video (MP4, 53 MB) >>>

About sound

There is only one loudspeaker here. It sounds loud, clear, relatively sonorous. It does not feel that the device is protected according to the IP69K standard.

The device works with Bluetooth codecs: AAC, SBC, aptX and aptXHD, LDAC. There is a built-in FM radio, without a headset it does not start.

Impression

At the cost of a Doogee S98 Pro smartphone from 20,000rubles (at the time of writing) it can be considered quite unique. You get a rugged flagship device with not only an excellent quality main camera, but also a night vision camera.

The thermal imaging camera is a separate issue.Even if you do not need it now, someday it may come in handy even in everyday life. Professionals will definitely appreciate it, because individual gadgets with such capabilities are more expensive.

Pros:

Cool build and materials
Reliable protection against water and dust
Lots of memory
Thermal imager
IR illumination
Capacious battery and long autonomy
Fast charge
Good delivery set

Minuses:

Not the most productive chipset
Large dimensions and weight
60Hz screen frequency

All in all, Doogee S98 Pro is a unique product for those who value secure devices and use them for professional purposes.

Competitors

AGM Glory Pro for 70,000 rubles
Cat S62 Pro for 60,000 rubles
Ulefone Armor 11T 5G for 45,000 rubles
Blackview BV9800 Pro for 35,000 rubles
Seek Thermal Compact XR (a separate device for connecting to a smartphone) - from 20,000 rubles

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